Shoot for the moon

“Shoot for the moon…Even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars. “

When we were a child, often adults would ask us “What would you like to be when you grow up?”..

You would hear the words from many children:
” A Bubble Master…”
” Buy Jupiter..”
” A Singer on a stage”
” A Fireman”
” A firewoman/ Vet” …

Things that are outrageous, out of this world, and sometime unachievable.

Then we get to about the teenage years.. and high school comes along..
We get asked again: “What would you like to be when you grow up?”

Things become more realistic and achievable:
“I want to become a lawyer..”
” I want to become a doctor..”
” I want to become a vet”
” I want to become an account..”

But really though? …Isn’t it because it is easier to aim for something a lot smaller and achievable, then chasing an almost impossible dream and somewhat failing?

Or is it because a load of people in your life also shat on your dreams?

When I was a little, about 4-5 years old. I remember dressing up in my really pretty clogged shoes ( it was Spice Girls days). I would always go up on my tippy toes to pretend I was a ballerina. I would hold a mic and belt out some songs into the mic. It was my dream to become a singer, a performer, an entertainer.

Fast forward, to about the age of 14 years old… I remember just jamming and singing casually with a friend to something like Savage Garden. All of a sudden this friend of mine said “Wow that was really bad and off key..” It’s taken me YEARS.. I mean years to get back into the confidence to sing again. It has always been my dream of doing broadway, and singing on stage…. but because of that small comment (that she probably didn’t know was hurtful) had back tracked me for years. Even though I’ve taken singing lessons now, I’ve only slowly become more confident in singing publicly.

I remember Nathalie Kelley Came to my high school in year 11. She was an Alumni of North Sydney Girl High School, and she was speaking about her experience as an actress on the movie The Fast and The Furious. I remember looking at her and looking at myself and going “I will never be an actress. She is so beautiful and there is no way I could do that…” As I’ve previously mentioned in my “Fall down and Get back up” blog post, I performed as an extra in the Alice in Wonderland play in high school. I was a card and specifically remember looking at my friends and the other girls who were the leads and saying they had way more confidence, charisma and energy to be the ones at the front of the stage.

In the beginning of high school, I would also write stories. I loved reading and writing was my way into creating mystical worlds of mermaids and magic… There was also a time in high school, where I was already blogging about my life. (Isn’t it funny how life comes full circle). It was only until recently why I realised what stopped me from continuing that blog. A group of girls in my high school found my blog and trolled me when I was writing about how upset I was about my most recent break up (The guy started dating a girl in my year who was a ‘friend’). After that, I closed my blog and stopped writing all together. It was only until 2016 I started blogging again and putting my life out there (only and all for the glory of God).

Before I had even given myself a chance, I crushed my dreams.

When I was asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” in year 12, I said ..
“Doctor or a lawyer”

It was ingrained in my brain by society, by my mum , by myself.. to just settle with a stable job..

And I chose to believe that I wanted to do it because of the ‘greater good’.

Which is still half true. I do love helping people. Which is why I pursued physiotherapy. But also half the reason was because it was respected by asian cultures to be in health, it made my mum happy and I got the UAI marks.

But what happened to being a “Bubble Master” , ” A Vet/ Firewoman”, And “buying Jupiter”?

And our dreams become smaller and smaller until they eventually disappear. And we forget about those dreams.

But what would you say that perhaps, on the other side of your dream lies people?
People who are counting on you to make a difference? To be in that sphere of your life? To be the one out of a million? To be against the grain?

I remember quitting my full time job 4 years ago. And I was so lost. It was hard to get my mind around the fact that I wasn’t productive 1000% of the time. I also know heaps of people who are entrepreneurs who say the same thing. The mind game is not on the fact that you are working towards something that may or may not work out. But that fact that getting towards it, you go through thoughts of uselessness, unproductively and “Am I an idiot for quitting my perfectly stable job?”

Its even harder when you have voices badgering you on what you ‘should be’ doing (ie. Asian mothers who just want you to be a doctor, get married and have children).

I love the story of The Israelites in Egypt though. They had a Dream- a dream of being free.
They had a dream of being out of slavery and into a better land.. or else they wouldn’t of cried out to God. But they knew they were wanting something else other than the situation that they were in.

After they were saved and taken out of Egypt by Moses, The Israelites still have a slavery mentality. They wanted to go back to Egypt, forgetting how horrible they had been treated, how useless they were, how they cried out in the first place.

Instead of being in a place where God provided all that they needed, with a Promised Land awaiting for them. They moaned and groaned about the adversities they were in.

When they finally or nearly reached the promised land, spies went into the land, 2 out of the 12 claimed the Promised Land. 10 of them had every excuse to not go in and claim it- which also made that whole generation miss out on the promise.

What if I said The Promise Land is what God wants us to pursue?
Are you the 10 that missed the promise? Or the 2 who took hold of what God spoke into them?
What is your Promised Land?

It doesn’t always have to be career.

It can be as simple as a relationship. Are you dreaming to be in a happy, fulfilled, content relationship… but you are stuck with someone who you are settling with?

I challenge you to be childlike.This idea has been burning in my head for the last few weeks.

What is it to be childlike?
Just like a child who sits on Santa Claus’s lap, what outrageous things would you ask for?
Are you sitting on God’s lap and asking for outrageous things?
It’s only when things are unachievable, unmanagable, unthinkable that miracles happen.

Not saying God is Santa Claus, or is he a genie… but I do believe he wants the upmost best for us… whether it be your partner and career to carry out His Will.Does your career carry out the will of God?
Does you relationship glorify God?Does you life carry out what God has spoken over your life?